It is a private school, and Sahiti is a science teacher for the primary-grade children. It was lunchtime, she completed her class and moved towards the staff room. On the way, she met her colleague and had some discussion. While chatting she saw Praneeth sitting in the fourth grade's first bench with his lunch box closed and with a saddened face. Sahiti excused herself from her colleague and went straight into the classroom.
Seeing the teacher in the class, everyone stood up to wish her and Sahiti told everyone to carry on with their lunch. She sat next to Praneeth and asked what happened,
Praneeth, “My mom kept my favourite lunch today, but it does not taste like each time. Something is missing?”
Sahiti asked permission for Praneeth to taste his lunch and tasted it. She realized it was missing salt.
She was about to say something, but Praneeth continued, “I am really hungry and I cannot eat this now, I will tell my mom to never do this lunch again”. His voice sounded serious.
Sahiti, “Do you think your mom did it on purpose?” Praneeth nodded his head as no.
Sahiti, “When you face any problem and whatever might be the reason for that, it is your
responsibility to find the solution. Do you think, is there a way you can get this resolved?”
Praneeth asked in surprise,” Is there a way?”
Sahiti turned to other students and asked loudly, “Do anyway have salt with them?”
Kriti from the back bench shouted, “Mam, I have”
Kriti brought a small box of salt and showed it to her teacher, “My mom keeps this box of salt so that I can add it to my fruit pieces before I eat”.
Sahiti patted Kriti for sharing the salt with her friend.
Sahiti added a pinch of salt to Praneeth’s lunch and gave the rest to Kriti. Praneeth tasted and it is so much better now. He smiled and took one more spoonful.
Sahiti, “When you face any problem, the first thing is to find what is the problem and find a solution, you should not sit back and blame everyone responsible for it. For every problem there will be a solution, you just need to find your pinch of salt”.
Praneeth thanked his teacher and completed his lunch happily.
On the other end, Mamata Praneeth's mom tasted the lunch in the office during her lunch break, realized she had forgotten to add salt, and sat in guilt.
Mamata's friend saw her face and asked her the reason, once Mamata told her what happened, “I
know you never want your kid to face any problems, but sometimes you should not be so harsh to yourself, mistakes happen and kids should be in a state to understand them and move on or find a way out.”
Mamata smiled but she could not stop herself from thinking about what his kid having for lunch and how he would react to it.
In the evening, Mamata waited for Praneeth to come home, and when the bell rang, she opened
immediately to see him. Praneeth casually came inside kept his school bag and lunch bag on the
table and sat on the couch.
Mamata was about to walk to the kitchen to bring water and Praneeth said, “Mom, you forgot to add salt in the lunch”. Mamata turned to Praneeth to say sorry, instead Praneeth said, “Don’t worry, I found my pinch of salt” and gave a big smile.
Mamata just stood and stared at him for so long in disbelief.

© KommaS